Island Princess and Hawaii

[sunlover's]

We are looking at Jan/07 for a cruise and are thinking of the Island Princess in late January. We are wondering if this is a good time of year to sail?? In looking at the member reviews, it is mixed. Some say that the "sea days" are rough and that it is cold and windy and that there could be a lot of rain. We are looking for Sun!!! And is a balcony suite advisable (due to the weather??)

Also...any suggestions on where to stay (hotel close to the port) and how to get to the port (taxi/shuttle) would be appreciated, as we are planning on going down early to visit family.

[flamomo]

We sailed this same itinerary on the Island January 21 of this year, and it was a wonderful cruise.

We had no problems with rough seas in either direction. Somewhere we had heard that the Pacific was very rough, so we were quite concerned. We have encountered some very rough seas on the Atlantic side of the Caribbean, and my travel friend is prone to seasickness. So we had stocked up on various remedies for the Hawaiian cruise. We did not need any of them. That's not to say that, depending on the weather at sea, not all crossings are as smooth. But we were very pleasantly surprised.

We had no rain while at sea, The only rain was when we were at Hilo. There was rain up on Mt Kilauea, but our tour guide told us that was not unusual. After we got down off the volcano, the weather was much better. And the tour guide said we would have good weather the next day at Kona, because that side of the island has a different weather pattern. I guess the volcano has it's own microclimate too.

The weather was cool the first 2 days at sea - not cold. We did wear long pants and light jackets. After that, the weather got progressively warmer. In the islands, it was like summer - - shorts weather. The evenings in Hawaii were pleasant. The only time I needed something like a shawl to cover my arms was when we were in the dining room. The A/C must have been working overtime! Actually it's just me - I get chilled easily. As far as using the pool onboard, the Island has one of those enclosed pools with a retractable roof, as well as the outdoor pools. So even if it is cool, one can use the pool.

I forgot you asked about the winds. The only wind we were aware of at sea was the wind that is generated by the forward motion of the ship running at 22-23 knots/hr.

We booked and enjoyed a balcony cabin. Even on those few cool days, we could sit out there, I think, because the dividers between the balconies shielded us from the wind. And in The Islands, the balcony was wonderful. I'm an earlier riser than my friend, so I went out early each morning to watch our approaches to the ports. At evening sailaways, we watched the sunsets as we left the ports. We got some beautiful sunset and sunrise photos. Also got to see whales in the waters near Maui.

This cruise was so good that we have already booked it for 2008. Sadly, it will not be on the Island then - we'll be on the Diamond. We really liked the Island.It's just the right size. Not sure how we are going to feel about the bigger ship. It'll be our first time on one of that class.

Re: hotel near the port in LA. I can't answer that one. We flew into LA (me from FL and my friend from OH) and met at LAX. We found it easier to use Princess to book us into the Airport MArriott (lovely hotel) at a very good nightly rate that included Princess transfer to/from the port. We stayed there the night before and the night after the cruise. No worries about luggage getting there in time for the cruise (you know how the airlines can mess thing up that way sometimes), or with making flights after the cruise. That worked out very well for us, and we will do it that way next time too.

If you decide to go, I certainly wish you as great a cruise as we had. I had wanted to see Hawaii for many years, and this was a great introductory visit. That's why we have to go again - - to see even more.

[senior lady]

We're doing this cruise April 26th next yr. We picked that date because we wanted to stay on the ship and do the 3 day coastal cruise back to Vancouver.

 

We were on the Coral Princess ( sister ship to the island) in May. We did the full canal cruise and stayed on the ship from San Fran to Vancouver. It's great arriving home. No need to worry about flights and packing all the stuff you buy along the way;)

 

We had a balcony on Caribe deck and enjoyed it for the first 13 days. But after leaving Cabo, it got very cool and we didn't use it much. In fact it was 54 in San Fran.

 

So we decided to book a window cabin this trip. Knowing that is going to be cooler crossing the Pacific. Save the extra money for spending in Hawaii. We want to do the helicopter in Kauai:D

[Cruisin' Chick]

We went in late December/early January and the only rough seas was on the first couple of days. After that, it was smooth. The cruise right before us had the opposite (smooth until the last couple of days and then rough). It's just luck, not the time of year. I wouldn't recommend this trip to anyone going on their first cruise for this reason -- one doesn't want to spend their first few days ever on a ship sick in their cabin (one couple on our cruise had that problem).

 

As for weather, it was a little cool leaving San Pedro, but when approaching Hawaii, it would get warmer. It was very warm when we returned to LA. No rain at all. I would recommend taking an umbrella, especially if staying in LA for a few days, as November thru March is our rainy season.

 

We did stay in the Airport Marriott on our wedding night in 1995 so we can be close to the airport to catch our flight the next morning. It seemed nice. San Pedro itself is very industrial near to the port. There is one or two hotels but if you're planning to stay more than one day, there are other places that are more appealing on the coast. You may want to check out the pre and post-stay hotel forum for some recs.

 

Flying in a day before is a good idea as traffic can be a pain even on the weekends.

[sunlover's]

:) Thanks for all your replies...guess Hawaii in January is going to be OK. We sailed the Caribbean with the Star last January, and suffered some days of "gale force" winds...so have learned to walk with my shoes off and not to carry a drink to far. (this was our first cruise)

Flamomo, thanks for your additional comments on some of your tours and also the fact that you did need light jackets for the cool days...now all we have to do is book.

Hope you all have wonderful Princess cruise's.....thanks again.

 

Shel/Rob:)